After getting her revenge on Nick, both roommates are left with painful bruises with just once ice pack to share between them. The night will be an eventful one as Nick battles with resisting admitting his feelings towards Jess. Set during and after the Halloween episode.

Hello! Anyone who has talked to me about New Girl will know that I am a HUGE Jess Nick shipper and so I thought I would attempt to conjure up a fic. This is the first fic I've ever written and I actually haven't written anything creatively in several years so forgive me if it does not meet your usual standards. I hope to improve the more I write. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Revenge

Generally, Nick Miller hated getting into fights. Sure, he may have been dragged into the odd bar fight every now and then; he is a bartender after all and sometimes those things just couldn't be helped. But as far as he was concerned, that thick, glossy slab of wood that separated him from all the nut jobs, alcoholics and aggressive trouble makers that dragged their way into that place was there for a reason. His job ended with the handing over of a drink and shouldn't entail anything extra. Unfortunately for Nick, that kind of attitude would get him fired; the bar would look like the target of an apocalypse if he didn't force himself to break up the brawls that occurred way too often.

Nick never thought the day would come that he punched a girl. Especially if that girl was Jessica Day.

Of course, at the time he thought he was defending himself against a 'terrifying monster' but as soon as his adrenalin subsided and the realisation hit that it had in fact been her, his cute and completely harmless roommate and best friend, Nick had never felt guiltier in his entire life. Neither had he ever felt so scared. Yes, the thought that he may have badly hurt Jess,(and judging from the amount of times he had accidentally knocked someone out in the bar, that could have been easily done),terrified him more than any manic laughing clown in a haunted house could do, even if the pitch and volume of his screams suggested otherwise. If this had been any girl, he still would have felt awful. But it was Jess.

That night, Nick rested an icepack on her throbbing cheek which was starting to gain a purple hue to it. He felt like it was the least that he could do. Not only because he owed her big time, probably for the rest of his life, but also because she had just been rejected by that tree sized jerk of a man, Sam. As soon as Jess announced that the two of them weren't serious and that it was 'casual', Nick knew that it would end badly. Not necessarily in tears. But badly. Jess could say all she wanted about wanting to be good at casual sex, but none of that would matter. She was completely kidding herself.

After living with her for several weeks, Nick began to understand that Jess was not the type of girl that you could just fool around with and not feel guilty about it the next day;she was the type of girl who you talked to, hung out with, took home to your parents and married. At first, he assumed he felt this way because of her sunny and innocent attire. She always looked approachable. Innocent. Pretty, he thought. However, over time things started to change for Nick. Now, he didn't just look at her in the morning thinking 'wow that dress is too yellow for a time this early in the day', he looked at her and instantly woke up. It was almost a reflex action. In fact, Schmidt and Winston were beginning to question why he had a goofy grin on his face even several minutes after Jess left for school. She had a scary effect on him and in a lot of ways, he hated it. He thought of her as one of his best friends. The kind that you would want for life. Not the kind of friend you form a crush on, start dating, break up with and never talk to again. But then again, he hadn't felt this way in a very long time. In fact, he may have never felt like this. As much as he adored Jess, Nick knew that he could never say anything, not even to the guys. Not only were they friends, but they also lived together. If Nick told Jess and she didn't take it well, he didn't think he could stand her leaving. Having her in his life was good enough for him. He just despised seeing her upset. Especially if it was caused by another guy.

Watching Jess next to him while he held the ice against her cheek, it was easy to see that she wasn't her usual perky self.Nevertheless, Nick needed to say it,

"I know I said you shouldn't put yourself out there. But I'm glad you did. You should be with someone who's crazy about you Jess". It was so tempting to add '...like me' but Nick knew that would lead him into very deep and dangerous waters. With a slightly heavy head, Jess turned exposing the damage that Nick had left and tiredly spoke,"Thanks Nick. That would be really nice if it wasn't coming from someone who just punched me in the face". That was something else that he liked about her. Even in the worst of situations, Jess still managed to be adorably witty. Nevertheless, Nick continued to express his feelings of guilt,

"I'm sorry about that". Holding his gaze on her vibrant eyes, Nick sat fixated and quite unsure of what to say or do next. Even in her flowery pyjamas, he found her captivating. So much so that for a second he considered confessing his feelings for her right there and then.

If she were wearing that figure hugging red dress- the same one that she wore on their 'date' before heading off to do the business with Sam, he would never have even considered the thought. Seeing her that night only reminded Nick that he could never end up with a girl like her. She looked so stunning and drew the eyes of all the young men (even the ones who looked to be on a date themselves) in that disgustingly expensive place towards her. And Nick? Well, he was dressed in his usual casual attire and could only respond to the sight in front of him with a remark about her usually looking like a loft troll. Which of course, wasn't what he really thought. While eating their soup, Jess admitted that the dress was actually borrowed from Cece and that she would never wear something so figure hugging in a million years. After asking why she bothered, Jess only replied, 'Sam likes this kind of look on a woman'. This response made Nick want to grab Jess by the arms and shake her into some sense. Why is she dating this clown?, he thought. Why would he want to change the way she looks? And more importantly, why is she letting him?

Thinking back to the date, Nick became relieved at the fact that Jess felt comfortable enough around him that she could be herself. At least he was a generally nicer guy than Sam. Although, he was certain that Jess would soon attract the attention of another guy within a few weeks and that maybe that next guy could be it. Even though he continuously told himself that he would never be good enough for her, a part of him also wanted every other guy out there to stay away. He pondered for a moment, maybe he wasn't such a nice guy after all. No. She would never want to be with him. A low earning, scruffy bartender with a very apparent anger problem.

Snapping back to the present situation, Nick found Jess still staring at him with her amused expression and for a moment, the two single (Nick assumed that the slap he received from Amelia pretty much confirmed their split), friends failed to realise Schmidt and Winston entering the lounge.

"Alright you ready?" Letting go of the ice pack and forcing himself off the couch, Nick positioned himself between his two male roommates. Throughout the journey home, it was decided that a suitable punishment for his uncontrollable violent outburst would be that Jess simply hits him back. Nick didn't mind so much, as long as it made her feel a little better about the whole thing. Taking a quick swig from his beer bottle (like it would even make a difference to the pain), Nick braced himself.

"Jess. Let's make this right". Nick couldn't help but think about how adorable she looked carefully preparing her fist to be sure she didn't break any fingers. It was obvious she had never thrown a punch before and he was certainly glad that he would be the first, and probably the last one to experience it. Everybody who knew Jess well, knew that she was far from a violent person.

After several seconds, Jess' lips slowly curved into a smile, obviously entertained by how stupid Nick looked. Looking to the ground, she chuckled,

"I can't do this". Breathing a sigh of relief, Nick beamed at Jess secretly knowing that she would never have gone through with it, just like the time she stopped that Ménage à Trois before things got too heated. She was simply too nice of a person to do something like that on purpose. She didn't even like it when she stepped on an ant on the sidewalk. Punching a person was on a whole other level.

"I'm glad you're you. Cause Jess Day could-" Nick had jerked backwards by the time his brain processed what had happened. She had cleverly fooled him. His nose felt like it was floating off his face.

"Ow! Mother of...dammit!"

Not a bad shot Jessica Day, he thought while clutching his nose in discomfort.

Eeeek I hope this was a good start. As you can see, this is was set during the episode. The remaining chapters will be about what we don't see. That's where it all really begins ;)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.